How to Grow Mushrooms

How to Grow Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a very popular product in all seasons, especially in winter when vegetables are found in small quantities in Europe. Thanks to their easy growing, mushrooms can form the basis of a successful business for anyone. Follow these instructions to learn how to grow mushrooms.

First you should know that the ‘seeds’ called mycelium are in the form of spores that spread easily, so you cannot ‘sow’ these spores. The ‘seed’ must be bought from a laboratory that introduces the mycelium in grain wheat or other form to be handled. Contact stores that sell mycelium and ask for mushroom species for which they have mycelium. Ask the seller about the properties of the mushroom species, their fructification temperature, disease resistance, production and other advantages or disadvantages.

Mushrooms need organic support to grow and to get their food. Most people who know how to grow mushrooms are aware that unlike other plants, light is not necessary for mushrooms. They need a room that is thermally insulated and well ventilated. The hard part is the compost processing. This is a slow process; it takes about a month and requires hard work and raw material. Once you have the compost, you can set it in the room in two ways: on shelves or in plastic bags where you spread the mycelium.

To grow mushrooms you need a closed space that can be a basement, old building, store, warehouse, barn, garage or greenhouse. Ideally the room should be equipped with fans and some small windows. However, mushrooms should be protected from air currents. Also, you should have access to a water source inside the room or nearby and you should disinfect the room periodically thermally or chemically.

The room should be also equipped with thermal insulation, not to allow higher temperature variations day and night. This thermal isolation ensures one or maximum two cycles of mushrooms a year. For a production of 3 cycles per year you should ensure constant warm air ventilation. Once these conditions are met, you can say that now you know how to grow mushrooms, with a few exceptions.

Once the compost is seeded and the environmental conditions are maintained, after 10 – 15 days you should see small white rings of mycelium that rise to the surface. Over a few days you can start to harvest. The fructification temperature must be maintained throughout the entire period of fructification, otherwise mushrooms will soften, disappear and eventually the entire culture will be compromised.

The harvesting period is about 40 – 45 days, during which you will harvest mushrooms 3 – 5 times within 2 – 3 days.

These are a few tips that you should know about how to grow mushrooms. Although mushrooms are easy to grow, the compost preparations and the fructification temperature are essential in order to have a culture of mushrooms.